Written By Courtney Briggs, Assistant director of Dupree Dance
As dancers, athletes, and movers, our bodies are the vessels that allow us to produce, create, and explore our potential. Creating a proper protocol for how we prepare, maintain, and recover is imperative, as it allows us to move longer and larger.
Your Preparation
Engage and Ignite
Our brain and body work in a beautiful partnership, and the choices we make as we gear up for movement can greatly steer the efficiency and effectiveness in which that partnership thrives. Our warm-up should do two major things: prepare the body and prepare our central nervous system for more intense activity. Let’s talk steps.
1. Stop stretching!
A proper warm-up should never include long holds or poses that increase flexibility. What that is essentially telling your brain and body is to slow down and prepare for rest. Engaging the muscular system through a dynamic flow is best, full-range-of-motion movements performed with continual motion. This primes the brain to send signals more efficiently to the muscles, making them respond faster.
Our warm-up needs to include muscle fiber recruitment, especially our fast-twitch fibers. Dynamic movements tell those fibers we are about to move explosively and dynamically, and that we want to do so with maximum power and minimal risk for injury.
What some of your dynamic warm-up could look like:
-Knee hugs
-High-knee skips
-Stepping lunges with a thoracic twist
-Stepping side lunges
-Knee drives / lateral adduction lifts / posterior leg lifts
2. Hydration
Excessive fatigue, rapid limitations in cognitive function, and restricted blood flow to your muscles are all things you may experience if you are not properly hydrated. Staying hydrated can seem minimal or
unexciting, which is why I see our community often not prioritize it. However, creating a consistent and intentional hydration habit is one of the easiest ways to level up performance and limit chronic injury.
Water is a major player in maintaining blood volume, which is essential for efficient circulation and optimal muscle function. It also supports joint health and helps balance electrolytes, preventing cramping. It’s simple, but not easy, here is a supportive protocol to help create a hydration habit:
We develop habits in three simple steps:
1. Creating a cue
2. A plan of action or process (“the how”)
3. A reward
Part of your brain (the basal ganglia) has the primary function of creating habits.
Create a cue: Set reminders, get a fun new water bottle, or pair hydration with consistent daily activities. The how: Set an exact amount of water you want to consume each day. This creates consistency and clarity.
Reward: Make this fun! Celebrate yourself, invite friends into your progress, and take a moment to feel the physical benefits of your effort.
Your Maintenance
Fueling Your Activity
Are you fueling your body like a Ferrari or an old, beaten-up car?
Movement is force production, control, and stability. We need to fuel that production to the level at which we want it to perform. As dancers, athletes, and lovers of movement, we push our bodies, demand a lot, and continually reach for new heights. If we want to perform like a high-powered sports car, we must maintain the machine accordingly.
Protein: A fundamental macronutrient for muscle repair and growth. After activity, muscles undergo stress and micro-tears. Protein provides the amino acids needed to repair and rebuild those muscles stronger.
Carbohydrates: Your quick energy source. Carbohydrates replenish glycogen stores in your muscles, which are required for sustained energy and performance.
Fats: Your long-lasting energy source. Fats provide energy through a process called beta-oxidation, which generates ATP, the energy currency within your cells.
Your Recovery
Just like in our preparation phase, we must consider the partnership between the brain and body when creating a recovery protocol. In preparation, we rev the system up; in recovery, we must bring it back down. Actively guiding the body into a parasympathetic state initiates the repair process.
This state helps lower inflammation by balancing pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory functions, both of which are necessary. It also supports the release of growth hormone, which is essential for muscle repair and tissue regeneration. Additionally, being in a parasympathetic state optimizes digestion, allowing the nutrients from the maintenance phase to be properly absorbed and utilized.
My top five favorite ways to enter a rest-and-digest state:
1. Diaphragmatic breathing or a few rounds of box breathing
2. Listening to calm music
3. Walking
4. Enjoying a warm drink
5. Gentle stretching
How you prepare, maintain, and recover shapes how long and how fully you get to move. When your systems are customized with intention, movement becomes more than output; it becomes expression, freedom, and sustainability. Create rhythms that support your body, celebrate your effort, and honor the powerful partnership between your brain and body.
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